Hello Everyone,

It has been a lovely, busy week in Penhallow.

We have launched ‘Drawing Club’ where every morning, we have explored the story of Elmer, by David McKee. We have developed our imaginations and confidence in our ability to draw and write. Some of our activities have included designing a disguise for Elmer the elephant, and planning a jungle surprise for Elmer’s elephant friends. 

In maths this week, year 1 have continued to learn about place value. We have been counting back and counting on from different numbers, as well as recognising numbers in words and numerals. Reception have been comparing size and capacity in the outside area.

In art, we have created paintings which show off and celebrate how unique we are. We discussed what makes us the same and different from our friends, and used our favourite colours as a background to our self portraits. 

This week, we have also enjoyed a science lesson in our school garden, where we were able to use our 5 senses to explore the area.

We look forward to seeing you at our meet the teacher session on Tuesday afternoon. 

Have a lovely weekend.

From The Penhallow Team

Macmillan Coffee Morning
A huge thank you to everyone who attended our Coffee Morning and helped us raise money for such a wonderful charity. It was lovely to see families coming together to enjoy games, colouring, delicious treats and, most importantly, time spent chatting and connecting with one another. The morning truly captured what it means to be part of a community. We are delighted to share that, thanks to everyone's generosity, including selling any remaining cakes after school, we have raised an impressive £201.20! A special well done to our Year 6 pupils, who showed great maturity, responsibility and enthusiasm throughout the event. We are very proud of the way they helped to make the morning such a success. One pupil summed up the morning perfectly: “It was so much fun to have our families in – but my favourite part was definitely the cake!” Thank you once again to everyone who supported this fantastic community event. Your generosity will make a real difference to Macmillan.
From Year 6

School Photos
Next Monday and Tuesday, Tempest Photography will be in school taking individual and sibling photos over the two days. Please ensure your child is looking super smart in their full uniform (as always) and if wanted, provide them with a comb/brush for their hair. If your child has PE next Monday or Tuesday, they will need to wear school uniform and bring their PE kit to change into on this occasion.

House Captains
Mrs Orme had the pleasure meeting many of our Year 6 children as part of the House Captain ‘interviews’ last week. The standard of applications was so high; they should all be so proud of themselves. Mrs Orme had the very difficult job to choose between them. This week we announced our House Captains for the year:
Choughs – Sydney & Jesse
Cormorants – Barney & Sammy
Puffins – Hannah & Lily
Swans – Ellis & Sia

Congratulations to our new House Captains and thank you to all the children who put themselves forward.

Bridge Kids After School Club Assistant Vacancy
We are currently advertising for an After School Club Assistant (Weds & Fri 15:00-18:00). If you are interested, please look on the Vacancies page of our website.   

Foodbank Collection for Harvest
For Harvest this year, we will once again be collecting for Wadebridge Foodbank. Please send your child in with any donations from Monday 5th October to Friday 9th October. Donations such as tins and jars of food, rice, pasta, general toiletries and long life juice are most welcomed. Thank you for your support.

House Points
Congratulations to this week’s winners, Puffins. Overall, Puffins are in the lead:
Puffins – 1026
Choughs – 822
Swans – 809
Cormorants – 757


Wishing you a fantastic weekend.
Best wishes,
Chris Wathern

Another week has flown by and we have been busy. We have been practising our skills at passing - whilst running with the ball - to our teammates in rugby. It was challenging at first but we soon got the hang of it. In computing, we were learning about the Binary System - the code sent and received by computers, making our own 8-bit byte sets of data to challenge our friends.

We have been applying some new sentence-building skills in English, writing sentences using colons and commas as well as using causal conjunctions and subordinate clauses to add additional information. We will be planning and writing our draft non-fiction texts by the end of next week and I am excited to see what everyone produces. In Maths, we have been ordering/comparing and rounding numbers this week.

Congratulations to Jamie for achieving his SILVER in 99 Club, and to Isabelle for being our Person of the Week for demonstrating our school value 'responsible'.   

POLITE NOTICE
Just a reminder that it is our 'Meet the Teacher' on Tuesday @ 2:45pm. I am looking forward to seeing you all then!

Enjoy the weekend,
Miss Randle and Miss Colton
  

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TALLAND'S BLOG 25.9.26

Another Brilliant Week Talland Class!

We hope you’ve all had a fantastic week and are ready for a well-earned weekend! It has been another busy and enjoyable week in Talland Class, with the children continuing to show such a positive attitude towards their learning. They have worked incredibly hard, thrown themselves into activities with enthusiasm and, of course, brought plenty of smiles and energy to the classroom! We are so proud of them.

Here’s a little glimpse at some of the learning we’ve been getting up to this week:

Maths:
Year 4 have been busy ordering and comparing numbers up to 10,000. We have also ventured into the world of Roman Numerals, which certainly gave us plenty to think about and some fun challenges to solve!
Year 5 have now successfully completed their Place Value unit. They have worked really hard throughout the unit and should be very proud of the progress they have made.

English:
In English, we have continued exploring single-clause sentences and have begun thinking about how we can join ideas together using conjunctions. We have been using FANBOYS to help us remember some of the coordinating conjunctions we can use when joining sentences. Why not test your child at home and see if they can remember what each letter of FANBOYS stands for?

PE:
It was time to get active in PE this week as we continued developing our Tag Rugby skills. The children have been learning about the offside rule and practising how to pass the ball sideways or backwards. There was lots of teamwork, communication and, most importantly, plenty of enthusiasm on show!

Geography:
Our Geography learning took us to the coast this week. We explored some of the key characteristics of coastal areas and thought about what we might expect to see there. We also investigated the oceans surrounding the United Kingdom, building our knowledge of the seas and oceans that are part of our amazing planet.

Celebrations:
A huge congratulations to Harper for successfully completing the next level of 99 Club! What a fantastic achievement! Your hard work and determination have really paid off. We’d also like to give a special mention to Esme for her wonderful effort this week. She has shown real responsibility for her learning and has been an absolute superstar in Talland Class. We are incredibly proud of you!

And that’s a wrap on another busy, productive and thoroughly enjoyable week in! Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We hope you all have a fabulous weekend, with plenty of time to relax, recharge and enjoy some family time.

We’re looking forward to welcoming everyone back next week, ready for more learning, laughter and exciting adventures in Talland Class!

Signing off, Mr. Langley and Mr. Bishop.

We are loving the weather at the moment so we took the opportunity to go for an Autumn walk around the school grounds.

We looked at the fallen leaves, talked about where sticks came from; we heard birds, a trumpet playing and motorbikes; we saw bunting around the trees and named a Holly bush.

We also played a running game called 'Come and find me' - the children had to run around and then when she called, they had to find Ruth.
We all had lots of fun!

There were some gardening jobs to do in the garden too, as we planted our apple tree and some Spring bulbs.
Can you remember what bulbs we planted?

We have had another fantastic week of learning, and the children have continued to be enthusiastic, curious and engaged across all areas of the curriculum. It has been lovely to see them developing their knowledge and skills while also having lots of fun along the way.

In Maths, we have been learning about more than and less than, comparing numbers and thinking carefully about their value. We have also been developing our estimating skills by placing numbers on a number line. The children have enjoyed making sensible estimates and discussing how they know where a number might belong.

In English, we have been learning about irregular verbs and exploring how actions can be described using different verbs. The children have been enjoying identifying verbs and thinking about how they can use them to make their writing more interesting and descriptive.

In History, we have been learning about the famous Wright brothers and their pioneering achievements in flight. The children researched and wrote some interesting facts about them and enjoyed finding out more about how their ideas and inventions helped to change the way we travel.

In Science, we have been learning about our five senses and how they help us to understand and explore the world around us. The children have enjoyed thinking about what we can see, hear, smell, taste and touch, and discussing which parts of our bodies help us to use each sense.

In PE, we have continued to develop our ball skills, practising different ways of controlling, throwing and moving with a ball. During our Kixx sessions, the children particularly enjoyed the challenge of protecting their castles! There was lots of energy, teamwork and enthusiasm as they worked together and developed their football skills.

Forest School was another highlight of the week. The children worked together to collect natural resources and then used them to create a giant bug hotel. They showed fantastic teamwork and creativity and were very excited to think about which minibeasts might choose to make our bug hotel their new home.

In PSHE, we have been talking about what it means to be responsible and kind. We have explored the idea that our choices and actions can have consequences, both for ourselves and for others. The children have enjoyed sharing their ideas and discussing how we can make positive choices and show kindness to the people around us.

We have also had a very exciting visit from athlete Oli Adams, which the children absolutely loved. His visit inspired lots of enthusiasm, and we certainly seem to have some very keen surfers in the making! It was wonderful to see the children so excited and engaged as they listened to his experiences and learned more about sport.

It has been a busy and enjoyable week, and we are incredibly proud of the children's enthusiasm, curiosity and willingness to have a go. Well done, everyone, for another brilliant week of learning!

The best week ever!

Class 2 had a awesome week, which ended with the first ever share-a-book-Friday. We had an amazing time sharing our books while snuggled in with our blankets and cuddly toys. We really enjoyed discovering new and amazing books.

In Maths, both Year 1s and 2s have been comparing and ordering different objects and numbers. Year 2s have also worked really hard to master counting  in 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s. In Literacy, we have been learning to use subordinating conjunctions to modify a verb. While Year 1s have been learning to use "because" , Year 2s have been learning to use "because" and "when". In Science, we explored what humans need to survive and looked at how this list might differ from that of animals.

In RE, we have begun to understand the meaning of peace and how following Jesus might bring peace to Christians. In History, we spent time discussing how we mark special events in our lives. In Computing, we explored different gadgets that might have a computer inside them.

Finally, in Art, we used our sketchbooks for some life drawings. We spent time sketching different natural objects we used last week in our nature art. We also took inspiration from the amazing watercolours by Jackie Morris to help us plan our drawings and the colours we used in them. I wish I could post all the wonderful drawings the class produced this afternoon! Every drawing was unique, every one beautiful, every one absolutely original and amazing. Here is a montage of some of the works from our sketchbook work.

A very well done to:
> Nellie for getting the Ready Award for her amazing writing and maths.
> Freddie for getting the Respectful Award for always following class rules.
> Flo for getting the Safe Award for coming into class with a sunny smile and making everyone just that bit cheerier.

What a wonderful week which has been significantly drier than last week. The children have been amazingly patient this week with the changes in staff due to illness. I have had the pleasure of hearing all about our wonderful, hardworking children and what they have been getting up to in school.

In Maths, we are almost at the end of our Place Value unit. We have one more week before we move on to Addition and Subtraction.

This week, the Year 3 children have been estimating numbers on a number line up to 1,000, comparing and ordering numbers to 1,000, and counting in 50s.

In Year 2, the focus has been on using number lines to count in 1s and 10s to 100, estimating numbers on a number line and comparing objects.

In English, we have continued with our grammar focus. We have been identifying the subject in a sentence and looking at single and independent clauses.

We have found some of this quite tricky, but we have persevered and are looking forward to starting a new topic next week.

Our Science learning has focused on animal life cycles. We explored what a life cycle is, looked at the life cycles of different animals and worked together to put the different stages in the correct order.

In Computing, we have been identifying computers around our school as well as in our homes. We have discussed what makes a computer a computer and compared different types of computers.

We have also learnt that some computers use batteries while others need to be plugged into electricity, but they all need some form of energy input from one of these sources.

A huge well done to Kayden and Jack, who were chosen as our Pupils of the Week!

This week's value was being responsible. Kayden has shown real responsibility in his learning this week. He always tries his very best in every lesson and is not afraid to ask for help when he needs it.

Jack was chosen by Mrs Rowe, who has been so impressed with how well Jack has got on with his work this week.

Well done to you both! 

A big well done to Emily and Jack, who were awarded their badges for the 99 Club this week. What a fantastic achievement!

Well done to everyone this week. There were so many children showing our school values and working incredibly hard that we could have chosen more than one Pupil of the Week!

Have a lovely weekend, everyone! 

  This week at Storytellers, we have been learning more about our bodies, with a special focus on our teeth.

 The children have enjoyed exploring books and stories about teeth and talking about why it is important to look after them. We have also introduced new toothbrushes and practised brushing our teeth, learning how to brush carefully and keep our smiles healthy.

 Our role-play area has been a particular favourite, giving the children opportunities to act out visits to the dentist, take on different roles and talk about what happens when we visit the dentist.

 Through stories, discussion, role play and hands-on activities, the children have been developing their understanding of healthy choices while building confidence and independence in caring for themselves.

This week we have been exploring homes and pets. The children have been talking about where they live and about any pets they have at home or would like.
They have been busy making paper plate animals, fork print cats and they have created houses out of different shapes whilst been encouraged to recognise and name these shapes.

At story time this week we have enjoyed reading "Pig the Pug" and "It Wasn't Me".

At phonics the children have been listening to different sounds in their environment and trying to identify and name them. They have used their bodies to make different sounds
and tried hard to recognise initial sounds of words in a game of "Silly Socks".
 
In maths we have been been exploring and building with shapes and objects, completing inset puzzles and finding numbers in everyday life.

Have a good weekend

Julie and Sarah

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Thank you to everyone who came in to visit during Art this week!  The children have moved on to the next lesson of creating paints using natural resources.  They picked berries, leaves, dandelions, soil, sand, grass and flowers to grind down, add water and paint onto paper.  They really enjoyed this!

Our history lessons have been focusing on what the word "Prehistoric" means and created a timeline that was presented on the playground!

In PE, hockey is going well and the children learned how to "push" and pass the ball safely.  In PSHE, the children brainstormed ideas of what a "Dream School" might look like! They decided that a dream school would be everyone being nice to one another!

We are all looking forward to the Festival of Words trip on Monday! 

What another busy and brilliant week it has been at Brunel! 

It has been wonderful to see so many exciting learning opportunities taking place across the school and our children continuing to show such enthusiasm, curiosity and determination in everything they do.

Our after-school clubs are now well underway, and we are incredibly proud of the range of opportunities available to our children. There are still spaces available in a number of clubs, so please do take a look and consider signing your child up. Clubs are a fantastic opportunity for children to try something new, develop their talents and spend time with friends.

A huge thank you to our staff who voluntarily give their time to run these clubs. Their willingness to provide these additional opportunities is just one of the many things that makes Brunel such a special school.

Our Helping Hands group has also been very busy this week! They have worked together to create a wonderful new Little Engineers Shed for our youngest children to enjoy during their lunchtimes. We cannot wait to see the imaginative building, designing and problem-solving that takes place there. Thank you to everyone involved in bringing another fantastic addition to our school grounds to life.

We were also delighted to hold the first Lighthouse Room Parent Café this week. It was a really positive opportunity for parents to come together, find out more about the support available through our Lighthouse Room and talk with members of our team.

Thank you to everyone who joined us. Finally, a reminder that our Reading Café takes place next Thursday, 1st October, straight after school. We would love to see as many of our families there as possible.

Come along, enjoy some time together and help us celebrate something that sits right at the heart of learning at Brunel – a love of reading!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Degemer An Jydh – Seize the Day!

Another busy week of learning...

This week, the Yr5s and 6s have been learning about speech within texts. We have been practising coming up with our own direct speech, punctuating it accurately as well as adding action and emotion. This will help them to then insert dialogue into their own consequence story, inspired by the novel Letters from the Lighthouse.

Within maths, we are continuing to work through our Place Value unit which includes understanding the value of number, ordering and comparing number. Their books are looking beautiful - they are taking real pride in setting out their work correctly and explaining their reasoning in detail.

Friday 25th September

Rame Class continue to be amazing!

Some of this week’s learning:

This week in phonics we learnt the phonemes   i/n/m/d. We have really been practicing using the sounds we know to ‘robot talk, read the word- blending the sounds to read the word.  Only three weeks in their new school and they are achieving so much.

Continuing with our big question, this week we have been exploring what we like and what we dislike. We have explored how we grow and have ordered pictures from babies to the elderly. We have been outside exploring the bricks and trying to make massive, big, humongous houses!! The children used these amazing words!

We have started Mastering Number( our new maths journey) this week and the children have adapted to the formal lessons well. They have ‘blown’ Mrs Phillips’ socks off with their knowledge! Number blocks 1, 2 and 3 kept setting the children subitising challenges and they beat those challenges every single time! (Subitising is knowing an amount without counting).

Today we had bucket time, and we explored conkers in their shells, the children used wonderful vocabulary to describe the conkers, the adults then opened the shells to explore inside. We will use the conkers next week in our learning!

This is only a small fraction of what the children have been doing, and they continue to impress us every day!

Rame Class is the best!!

Have a lovely weekend

The Foundation Team 

Another busy week of learning...

This week, the Yr5s and 6s have been learning about speech within texts. We have been practising coming up with our own direct speech, punctuating it accurately as well as adding action and emotion. This will help them to then insert dialogue into their own consequence story, inspired by the novel Letters from the Lighthouse.

Within maths, we are continuing to work through our Place Value unit which includes understanding the value of number, ordering and comparing number. Their books are looking beautiful - they are taking real pride in setting out their work correctly and explaining their reasoning in detail.